TfL Settlement – Over 60’s Freedom Pass

Navin Shah: Won’t suspension of peak time concessions disproportionally impact old Londoners? How does suspension of the facility make sense when older people need access to public transport for essential journeys as aptly described in the letter sent to you and Grant Shapps MP co-signed by Age UK and other accessibility groups? I understand the suspension is for 4 - 6 weeks. Are you able to specify when exactly the suspension will be lifted and who will determine this? What is guarantee that attack on Over 60’s Freedom Pass is not thin end of the wedge?

The Mayor: Temporarily suspending travel for these card holders on weekday mornings before 09:00 was a requirement of the recent funding and finance agreement made with Government.
I know that many older people will be unhappy with this change and I am sorry for the inconvenience it may cause. The Deputy Mayor for Transport has written to supermarkets and the NHS to seek their support in making adjustments for older people (such as in the timing of supermarket restricted shopping hours and in the issuing of medical appointments) in the hope that as little disruption as possible will be caused to people’s lives.
I was aware of the enhanced risks to older people associated with Covid-19 in making this decision and hope that this temporary restriction to free travel hours will protect all Londoners and help to prevent the spread of the virus as lockdown restrictions are eased. You can read more about the issues that I considered when making this decision here.
The duration of the changes will be kept under review and TfL continues to work with the Government regarding how long they are needed.

Capital Guard LFB contract (1)

Andrew Dismore: In each year of the Capital Guard contract with LFB from 2014 to 2020, how much was paid by the Brigade?

The Mayor: Please find information provided in the table below.
The standard steady state annual charge for the Emergency Fire Crews contract supports the management, recruitment, retention and both initial and continuation training or the Emergency Fire Crews and Command Support Teams. Deployment costs are those costs related to direct deployment during industrial action. These costs include all staff deployment costs, travel, accommodation, vehicles hire, fuel and subsistence for the Emergency Fire Crews and Command Support teams.
The first two financial years shown – 2014/15 and 2015/16 – include both steady state costs and deployment costs, as deployments were made in these years only (please see response to MQ 2020/2010 for further information).
This contract commenced in November 2014, hence 2014/15 figures are for 4.5 months only.
Costs for 2020/21 are for two months steady state charges only – London Fire Brigade has only received two invoices for this year to date.
Financial Year
14/15
15/16
16/17
17/18
18/19
19/20
20/21
Capital guard contract costs (£)
5,397,787
5,066,749
4,068,543
4,290,894
4,260,613
4,374,168
743,784

Capital Guard LFB contract (5)

Andrew Dismore: What is the value and duration of the new contract for fire and control cover that has been awarded to Capital Guard from the period of November 2020 onwards?

The Mayor: The extension is part of the existing contract. This has not yet been awarded as the governance process has not been completed, but the maximum value of this three-year extension is £13,993,000, including estimated costs for future cost inflation pressures. The charges are specifically for the steady state annual charge, which includes the continued management, recruitment, retention and initial and continued training of the Emergency Fire Crew Capability staff. These costs do not include any additional deployment costs, should there be further periods of industrial action.
Year
Year Total
20/21 (Year 7 – first year of Extension)
£4,515k
21/22 (Year 8 – second year of Extension)
£4,660k
22/23 (Year9 – third year of Extension)
£4,817k

Capital Guard LFB contract (4)

Andrew Dismore: How many bids for the fire and control cover contract, held by Capital Guard from 2014 to 2020, were received when it was re-tendered in advance of its expiry in November 2020?

The Mayor: Only one bid was received for the contract in 2014, which was from Securitas. Another company – Scion Technical Services Ltd – initially responded to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) advert but withdrew at the point when the bids were due to be submitted. The contract was not retendered prior to its expiry in November 2020, the extension provisions were included in the 2014 contract.

Capital Guard LFB contract (3)

Andrew Dismore: Where and when was the contract for fire and control cover, held by Capital Guard from 2014 to 2020, advertised, before being re-awarded to Capital Guard?

The Mayor: Capital Guard is the name given to a business continuity solution provided to the London Fire Brigade by Securitas, which is implemented when the Emergency Fire Crew Capability contract is actively deployed during periods of industrial action.
In June 2013, the contract opportunity for this service was advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).Prior to the formal advertisement, an invitation for market consultation was published on 13 May 2013 to enable officers to seek advice and opinions from the marketplace prior to beginning the formal tender process. Four companies responded to this invitation and two, Securitas and Scion Technical Services Ltd, attended question and answer sessions at the London Fire Brigade’s Headquarters on 29 and 31 May 2013 respectively. Securitas was the only company that submitted a bid.

Capital Guard LFB contract (2)

Andrew Dismore: In each year of the Capital Guard contract with LFB, how many times were services activated?

The Mayor: Please see the table below:
Calendar Year
Number of times LFB Capital Guard contract activated
2013
9
2014
40
2015
1
2016
0
2017
0
2018
0
2019
0
2020
0

TfL Income (3)

Navin Shah: On 16th March 2020, TfL's forecast, based on government scenarios, suggests there could be a reduction in passenger income of up to £500m. Please provide a breakdown of this £500m by mode?

The Mayor: In March 2020, Transport for London (TfL) started to see a reduction in ridership due to growing public awareness of coronavirus and changing travel behaviour. At the time, Government guidance was to expect circa 20 per cent to 35 per cent employee absence from work due to the illness. On this basis, TfL modelled an impact to passenger revenue of £500m. However, this figure was quickly out of date.
TfL has seen a steep decline in passenger demand, with a 95 per cent reduction in journeys on the Tube, and an 85 per cent reduction in journeys on buses. This has caused an overall income loss of around 90 per cent including non-passenger incomes. This is built into TfL's Emergency budget which anticipates the full year revenue loss in 2020/21 to be over £4.0bn. TfL are currently updating their Emergency Budget in light of the funding and financing package agreed with Government and figures will be updated as part of that process.

Home fire safety visits

Andrew Dismore: How is LFB adapting its home fire safety visits programme to react to the coronavirus pandemic?

The Mayor: At the start of lockdown on 23 March 2020, measures were put in place to offer home fire safety visits (HFSVs) to Londoners in line with the National Fire Chief’s Council advice.
HFSV requests are now triaged on the basis of fire and COVID-19 risk, in line with Public Health England guidance. Requests that are deemed to have a fire risk are visited by London Fire Brigade (LFB). Since 23 March 2020, LFB has carried out 2,146 HFSVs.
Where an individual is symptomatic or is deemed not to have a fire risk, fire safety advice is given and they are placed on a waiting list. Those on the waiting list will be visited by LFB once lockdown measures are eased. Those who are on the waiting list are also signposted to the fire safety pages of the LFB website, which has seen over 80,000 visits since 23 March 2020.

Making LFB greener (1)

Andrew Dismore: LFB’s latest budget allocates £1.29m for greening efforts. What is the timeline for spending this money?

The Mayor: The budget of £1.29 million is to fund the first year of the London Fire Brigade’s Carbon Reduction Strategy measures, which include photovoltaics, LED lighting, boiler replacement, an air source heat pump pilot, heating control improvements and an additional post to implement the measures during 2020/21. Work is underway to progress these projects. It is too soon to determine whether delays due to COVID-19 will affect completion within this financial year.

Making LFB greener (2)

Andrew Dismore: Will the £1.29m investment in carbon reduction deliver the target of 60% reductions on LFB’s 1990 emissions?

The Mayor: The £1.29 million of funding is for year one of athree-year investment plan to achieve the 60 per cent target, as set out in the London Fire Brigade’s Carbon Reduction Strategy 2020-2025. Carbon reduction currently stands at around 53 per cent compared to the 1990 baseline. The proposed year one measures include actions to reduce carbon in the short term and develop and test plans to reduce carbon in the longer term, working towards carbon zero by 2050.

Emergency service business continuity plans

Andrew Dismore: In response to my question 2020/1332, you said that “All emergency services, as Category 1 responders, have a statutory duty to have in place business continuity plans for events like pandemics.These plans are well prepared and tested.” In what sense were plans for PPE supply well prepared and tested?

The Mayor: Ensuring a robust supply chain for any part of a critical service is a fundamental element to an organisation’s business continuity plan. Each emergency services is responsible for ensuring its individual Business Continuity plan in robust and tested to ensure they are able to deliver their service to London despite disruption. The effectiveness of this system has been proved on multiple occasions when London has faced disruptive incidents in the past.
During the COVID-19 crisis, London’s emergency services have worked collectively to draw down on the national stockpile to maintain the supplies of PPE required to deliver their critical services. There have been widespread pressures on the PPE supply chain across all organisations, including numerous private sector organisations that relied upon the national stockpile whilst commercial supply chains were stretched.
The excellent work of the London Fire Brigade in supporting the distribution of emergency supplies of PPE across London has helped maintain sufficient stocks for London’s responders.

Making LFB greener (3)

Andrew Dismore: How much energy generation is planned for LFB stations?

The Mayor: The London Fire Brigade’s Carbon Reduction Strategy outlines plans to install photovoltaics at another 28 fire stations over three years, 848 kWp of photovoltaics already installed at 65 sites. Funds allocated for 2020/21 will allow for installation of photovoltaics at approximately eight to ten sites, which is expected to collectively add 110 kWp additional to the LFB’s onsite energy generation capacity.

Duration of visits to buildings with stay put suspended

Andrew Dismore: What is the average time taken for a visit by LFB crews to a building where stay put is suspended?

The Mayor: Visits to buildings where stay put is temporarily suspended usually last 1 to 2 hours, with associated administrative tasks taking an additional 1 to 2 hours.

Staffing of visits to buildings with stay put suspended

Andrew Dismore: What is the standard number of LFB staff who attend a visit to a building where stay put is suspended?

The Mayor: When London Fire Brigade carries out a visit, as opposed to an emergency call to a building, one fire appliance, and a minimum crew of four persons and a maximum of six, would attend.

LFB transformation board transparency

Andrew Dismore: Will you publish agendas and minutes of the Brigade’s transformation board?

The Mayor: The Transformation Board is an internal forum for working with project and programme managers to oversee the delivery of the Transformation Delivery Plan. It is not a decision-making board and its papers are not published. The new Transformation Director, Fiona Dolman, joined the Brigade on 1 June. As she establishes herself in role, she will be reviewing the Transformation Board, which has met twice, and how it contributes to the delivery of the Plan. The London Fire Commissioner will ensure that the Assembly is kept regularly updated about that work.

Anti-riot vehicles [4]

Andrew Dismore: The Met Police’s replacement of their heavy anti-riot vehicles project: how many companies have been invited to tender; how many have tendered; and in each case, how many are UK, how many EU, and how many from elsewhere in the world?

The Mayor: The MPS has not officially published a tender for the requirements and is therefore unable to respond to the questions. A Prior Information Notice was published on 23rd March 2020 advising the market of a potential future procurement.

Borough Community Schemes

Tony Devenish: Many London Councils have set up schemes to support their residents such as Westminster Council’s successful Westminster Connects scheme. What are you doing to support local authorities with these schemes?

The Mayor: My officers are working with London Councils, Local Authority and Voluntary Sector colleagues in the Funders, Communities and Volunteering (FCVS) sub-group of London’s Strategic Coordination Group. This group has worked in multiple ways to support local authorities in working with residents and enabling volunteer response. In addition my Covid hub signposts local CVS and Volunteer centres and provides guidance on safe volunteering practice.
The FCVS worked with NHS colleagues to ensure that the NHS Responder platform could be used as a referral route by London’s local authorities. A weekly survey of voluntary sector organisations working with vulnerable Londoners is shared in order to provide additional data to enable local authorities to gain insight into the support needs of communities. My Food team worked with local authority food hubs to meet urgent food needs across London, including an emergency food drop over the Easter weekend. The London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) has been convening borough best practice sharing about the optimum platforms for community engagement and involvement.

Anti-riot vehicles [3]

Andrew Dismore: The Met Police’s replacement of their heavy anti-riot vehicles project: is it intended for the contract for these vehicles to be let to a UK manufacturer?

The Mayor: The MPS adhere to the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The MPS has not officially published a tender for the requirements and therefore is unable to respond to the questions.

Anti-riot vehicles [2]

Andrew Dismore: What is the Met Police’s budgeted cost for the replacement of their heavy anti-riot vehicles?

The Mayor: The MPS budget will be confirmed when assessment of the market capabilities has been completed.

Visits to buildings with stay put suspended - June

Andrew Dismore: How many buildings with Stay Put suspended is each London Fire Brigade station responsible for visiting?

The Mayor: As of 11 June 2020, the number of high-rise buildings per fire station ground with a temporary simultaneous evacuation strategy in place is as follows:
Borough
Number of premises per Borough
Station Ground
Number of premises per Station Ground
Barking and Dagenham
7
Barking
6
Dagenham
1
Barnet
3
Mill Hill
3
Brent
12
Park Royal
3
Wembley
9
Bexley
1
Erith
1
Bromley
1
Bromley
1
Camden
3
Euston
2
Kentish Town
1
Croydon
10
Norbury
4
Croydon
6
Ealing
5
Southall
1
Ealing
2
Acton
1
Northolt
1
Hammersmith &Fulham
2
Fulham
2
Greenwich
27
Greenwich
11
Plumstead
9
East Greenwich
7
Hackney
42
Shoreditch
24
Homerton
14
Stoke Newington
4
Haringey
2
Tottenham
2
Harrow
5
Harrow
1
Stanmore
4
Havering
6
Romford
6
Hillingdon
1
Heathrow
1
Hounslow
1
Heston
1
Islington
4
Islington
1
Holloway
3
Kensington and Chelsea
9
North Kensington
6
Kensington
1
Chelsea
2
Kingston
25
New Maldon
25
Lambeth
8
Lambeth
3
Clapham
3
Brixton
2
Lewisham
8
Lewisham
6
Deptford
2
Newham
19
East Ham
1
Stratford
16
Plaistow
2
Redbridge
1
Ilford
1
Richmond
1
Richmond
1
Southwark
12
Old Kent Road
4
Dockhead
4
Peckham
4
Sutton
3
Sutton
3
Tower Hamlets
30
Poplar
19
Shadwell
2
Bethnal Green
9
Waltham Forest
1
Walthamstow
1
Wandsworth
11
Wandsworth
4
Battersea
7
Westminster
11
Soho
3
Paddington
8
City
3
Dowgate
3
Total
274 premises with stay put temporarily suspended

384 bus [2]

Andrew Dismore: What is the furthest distance someone will have to walk to reach a bus stop if TfL’s proposals are implemented; and how does that compare with the distances before these changes?

The Mayor: On average, the additional walk to access route 384 or another bus route following the changes is 160 metres. The longest additional walk is 700 metres and is from the eastern end of Gloucester Road. This affects 30 weekday trips and there is an alternative stop on Lyonsdown Road on route 326 that is closer for these passengers. Like the current 384, the 326 serves New Barnet Station, High Barnet and Barnet town centre. Passengers can also use the Hopper fare to change to the 384 on Station Roadat New Barnet for other destinations, at no additional charge.